Tuesday, February 25, 2014

I've been taking a little break in my studio since the marathon anniversary celebration, but I'm back today to share a card for the monthly Papertrey Ink blog hop. Here's the challenge:

I don't know about you, but I am ready for spring to arrive! It has
been a super cold winter here and I am counting down the days until the
seasons change! Warm sun, green grass, colorful spring blooms and
everything else that comes along with it! Your challenge this month is
to create a spring themed project! Whether you use a fresh spring color
palette or use spring imagery, pull out all the stops to help elude the
winter blues!

When I saw this, the first thing that popped into my head was a wonderful sentiment from the Egg Hunt stamp set. My neighbor has a butterfly bush that is right outside my kitchen window and I love to see the gorgeous Monarch butterflies fluttering around while I'm cooking or washing dishes. Last year, there were so many of them! It was a visual treat!

I stamped a white panel with a small grass stamp from Forest Friends and then added sweet little forget-me-nots using two flower images from the same set. I used a Copic marker to add yellow centers to the flowers. I stamped my sentiment above the flowers. I colored the diecut butterflies using Copic markers and then coated them with glitter. I used a black pen to add dotted trails for the butterflies' flight pattern. Sweet and simple! Now I'm longing for a taste of spring. :)

Friday, February 14, 2014

Today's Papertrey Ink anniversary challenge was all about the presentation, specifically to make a card along with a matching envelope. I thought of many elaborate ideas, but in the end decided to stick with simple. Simple is good. Due to the beautiful eight inches of snow we received this week, today was yet another snow day off from school. My little studio is open to the house and sometimes it's hard to concentrate with everyone home, including my husband. He decided to work from home like yesterday. I've enjoyed the chaos. :)

I used a sketch from the first day of challenges for my card. I stamped a flower from Beautiful Blooms II repeatedly on white cardstock using Orange Zest, Hawaiian Shores, Scarlet Jewel, and Raspberry Fizz inks. The flower centers are stamped in Harvest Gold ink.

I rounded the corners and then wrapped two of the corners in solid Caribbean baker's twine, tying a bow on the lower side. I stamped my sentiment on a Double-Ended Banners diecut, cutting off the flag ends, and off-setting it with a piece of Hawaiian Shores cardstock. The panel was then attached to a Hawaiian Shores card base. Simple, but quite eye-catching.

I stamped the same pattern on a lightweight piece of white paper and then used it to line a white envelope. It makes a happy splash of color when opened. I also stamped four flowers on the front of the envelope along the left side.

It's a fun card to send to anyone when you want them to know they are in your thoughts. Who wouldn't smile when they find this in their mailbox? :)

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Oh my word, this was a frustrating challenge. I felt like banging my head against the desk a few times. To be honest, this was not my first roll. I tried and tried to get the other one (or two) to work. Really I did. I about decided to forget this challenge altogether and just give up. Instead, I rolled one more time. Thank goodness it was one I could do!

Stamping is supposed to be fun, right? I had a lot more fun playing in the snow with my kids. :D We got several inches yesterday and it snowed most of today as well. Pretty awesome! For the first time in years, we were able to make a full-size snowman! It looks like a winter wonderland out there, and we're enjoying it thoroughly. It doesn't happen often in North Carolina!

This challenge involved rolling a die for nine different building blocks - three color selections, a neutral color, an occasion, a technique, an embellishment, a fiber, and a sketch. Six possibilities for each one. Here's what I rolled:

I cut an oval from cream-toned watercolor paper. The flower image is made of three separate parts, and for each one, I inked the stamp and spritzed it with water. It gives a watercolor look without pulling out a paintbrush and still retains some of the detail. New Leaf for the leaves and stems, Spring Rain for the flowers, and Hawaiian Shores for the flower centers. Then I stamped my sentiment on top of the flowers.

I textured the Spring Rain panel with the Linen & Canvas impression plate, adhering it to a Vintage Cream card base. Once my flower oval was in place, I added three rhinestones above it and ribbon below it. The card turned out very sweet. You'll just have to pardon the indoor lighting yet again. It's dark outside and snow is covering my usual spot anyway. :)

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

We're hunkering down here in North Carolina and getting ready for some expected snowfall tomorrow. My kids are pretty excited! Supposedly it will be the most snow we've had in many years. School is already cancelled. I'm most excited about sleeping in. :)

Today's challenge for the Papertrey Ink anniversary festivities was to use stripes. I'm still on a purple kick so I pulled out my Rainbow Stripes dies and created this birthday card.

Pardon the indoor lighting. There's not much natural light after 10pm! Maybe I can get a better pic tomorrow before the snow starts falling. This card is a slight CASE of one Nichole Heady posted on her blog when these dies were released last year.

I cut the rainbow stripes out of Winter Wisteria, Royal Velvet, and True Black cardstock. I pieced them together on the card leaving some white space between. I cut the numbers from Winter Wisteria and stamped a happy birthday sentiment repeatedly in the matching ink. Then I layered them on white mats and adhered them to the card with pop-dots. As a last step, I stamped my sentiment underneath, masking off the exclamation point so it would fit snug against the curve. Super cute!

Here's the last baby card that was commissioned by a friend. I used many similar elements as yesterday's So Very Blessed card. I really loved the combination and wanted to use it again. It makes a sweet and elegant baby card.

Pardon the indoor lighting. I tried to fix it in Photoshop Elements as best I knew how. I embossed the Winter Wisteria panel with a Decorative Tile folder and mounted it with black on a white card base. I stamped the "welcome little one" sentiment on a Framed Greetings die cut and colored the letters with Copic markers. The "O" is substituted with a luscious glittered purple button. I cut a black circle and added tiny white dots with a gel pen, gluing it behind the sentiment. Then I added two small flourishes to dress it up. Love the result!

I have another baby card to show today. This one is a custom request for a baby girl named Elliott. I am enjoying making these cards!

I used Pretty in Pink cardstock again, this time embossing it with the Baby folder by Cuttlebug. I matted it on black and white like yesterday's card. I cut the name letters from the striped paper in the Love pack by Stampin' Up and then stamped the word "precious" above them. Underneath the name panel, I used a scalloped piece of black cardstock.

I pulled out an old retired stamp set called Baby Firsts for my dancing baby accent. :) I paper-pieced the zippered outfit with a polka dot print from the Love patterned pack. I colored the face and hands with Copic markers. On the zipper, I used a silver gel pen to make it look metallic.

This design would look darling in yellow. I need some more basic patterned paper in other colors. (especially polka dots - love those!)

Monday, February 10, 2014

I'm back for today's Papertrey Ink anniversary challenge. I really enjoyed this one. I love large word dies, so I pulled out the Counting My Blessings set for this one. Here's the details:

So today we have shown you all kinds of fun ways to add *words* to your
cards using the new Phrase Play stamp set. Now it's your turn to give
it a whirl for yourself! Grab your favorite word die, alphabet dies or
alphabet stamps and make a project that has a *word* for the focal
point. Have fun experimenting with the potioning of your word, whether
it be at an angle, along the edge of your card, etc... We can hardly
wait to see what you make!

Winter Wisteria is such a lovely color. I embossed it with a quatrefoil pattern from the Decorative Tile set by Cuttlebug. Layering it on white and black really makes it pop.

I cut the word "blessed" in both Winter Wisteria and True Black, gluing them together off-set to create a shadow effect. I stamped "so very" over top and added a small flower from the Little Lady set. Underneath the word panel, I placed two pretty black flourishes for extra flair. I was absolutely thrilled when I managed to stamp them centered on the first try! :)

You can see other cards for the word challenge here. Everyone is so creative. Plus, the new Circle Scribbles set looks like so much fun!

Sunday, February 9, 2014

This is my 200th post!!! How cool is that? I'm pretty excited about reaching that milestone. Today's challenge is to make a birthday card to celebrate seven years of Papertrey Ink. We were also supposed to take a picture of ourselves with the card. I barely made it before the sun went down. It's not the best lighting, but it works!

I glued narrow strips of colored cardstock on a piece of white cardstock and then cut it out with a By the Numbers Mat die. I also cut the number seven out of a white mat, stamped my sentiment, and then textured it with the Linen & Canvas impression plate. I then glued my striped number in place.

I stamped the balloon strings with Tuxedo Black ink. I die cut the balloons and then stamped them in Limeade Ice, Hawaiian Shores, and Harvest Gold ink. I stamped the tiny heart with Hibiscus Burst ink and then cut in out to glue in place.

I wanted to keep this card fairly flat for mailing to save on postage. Sometimes simple is best! :)

Saturday, February 8, 2014

I made another 3x4 card for the Day 4 anniversary challenge at Papertrey Ink. I saw Anja's entry on her blog here and just had to try one using the Framed Love die.

Mine came out pretty close to how I envisioned. I cut the frame in Pure Poppy cardstock and backed it with white. I stamped one of the adorable birds from Little Bitty Birds on the V and then added a teeny polka dot wing from the Additions set. The ladybug is from 2010 Love Tags. I stamped it on white and then cut it out, adding some glittery red Stickles to the hearts. It's popped up slightly with two layers of cardstock. I stamped a trio of red hearts from Love Birds using Pure Poppy ink. Finally, I stamped the music notes and the word "sweet". Very simple and super cute! :)

Today's challenge was a fun one! Papertrey Ink is releasing a new series of stamps and dies called Monthly Moments that is geared toward pocket-style scrapbooking. I've been intrigued by Project Life for a while now and this may just put me over the edge. My photos need to be put in albums and I think this method would work for me. After making this little 3x4 card, I can see many possibilities with my stamps and dies. The smaller size is so much fun and making these would be more like making cards instead of scrapbook pages.

This particular 3x4 card will probably be put to use on a future card rather than a scrapbook. I still had the hello die out on my desk from yesterday and I wanted to use my Little Bitty Bird stamps, so here is the result!

I cut Spring Rain cardstock with a die from My Favorite Things that I already had in my stash. I love it when I have exactly what I need! I stamped the tree branch along with two cute little birds. I paper-pieced both birds using Basic Grey paper. The large hello is cut from True Black. For the clouds, I cut white cardstock using cloud dies, embossed them with a Polka Dots folder, and then crumpled them up for texture. I stamped the small music notes above the birds and the word "tweet" above the diecut word. I colored in the tiny leaves with a Gumball Green marker.

I loved making this little card. I have a couple more ideas, so time to get back in the studio!

Friday, February 7, 2014

Oh my word, this challenge was an exercise in frustration for me. I'm a slow stamper and take a while to make cards. Having a time limit added a whole new layer of anxiety. Here's the challenge:

Welcome to our first ever Timer Challenge, in honor of the *time travel* theme for Stamp-a-faire this year. You are encouraged to grab a timer and get creative!

You have 7 minutes to grab 7 supplies
to use on your card. This needs to include your ink, paper and stamps
too, so maybe you should be sure to grab the basics first and go from
there! (You do not need to count adhesive as one of your limited supplies.)

Then create a quick card in 17 minutes or less using the supplies you selected!

It turned out that the seven supplies aspect was far more difficult than anticipated. Everything I tried to do needed one or two more than that. I did finish one card, but it took me a couple of minutes too long and I wasn't really happy with it anyway. I may try to remake it later. Finally, I looked at a simple card I made two weeks ago and realized that it used exactly seven things. In some desperation to get this posted on time, I decided to make a variation of it for this challenge.

You'll notice it's very similar to the thank you card I posted here. This time, I used an inverted scalloped circle to mimic the sun and used the Wonderful Words: Hello stamp set and die. Here's my list of seven items:

Gathering the supplies only took a couple of minutes. Making the actual card took 10 minutes and 16 seconds. Can I say how glad I am to be done? This challenge was a stumper. I sure hope tomorrow's challenge is much easier! :)

Thursday, February 6, 2014

After getting sidetracked to make the card in my previous post, I got back to work creating some baby cards for a friend. She requested three custom cards for upcoming baby girls, two of which already had names picked out. Here's the first one I created.

I embossed a piece of Pretty in Pink cardstock with the Polka Dots folder and mounted it on a white card base. I used a scalloped rectangle die from the Blueprints 1 set for the white piece. The individual letters in the name are cut from a patterned paper pack by Stampin' Up called Love and the paper piecing on the diaper and bottles are as well.

After gluing the letters in place, I stamped the words "welcome little" above the name. I adhered the white piece to the card and then added a Close to Cocoa strip cut using another die from Blueprints 1. I really like the stitched detail. I cut out the paper-pieced baby items, colored the little bottle nipples with a marker, and then glued them in place. So sweet!

For the second day of their anniversary celebration, Papertrey Ink provided a pdf file with several digital images by their stamp designers and challenged us to make a project with one of them. (found here) I was commissioned recently to make three baby cards and was using one of yesterday's PTI sketches to do just that. Once I had most of it put together, I realized that it was perfect for Heather Nichols' pretty image and quickly changed plans.

Sweet serendipity! I love the result and you'd think I had planned it that way. I embossed a piece of Pretty in Pink cardstock with the Polka Dots folder and adhered it to a white card base. I die cut the doily and trimmed the edge to match the sketch. After using my paper cutter to trim Heather's image, I simply slipped it under the doily. I added some pretty pink twine across the top as a final touch. Quick and easy!

This month is Papertrey Ink's 7th anniversary. Unbelievable! I've been following them since the very beginning. The celebration started yesterday showcasing some of the design team's favorite cards. Several color combos and sketches were posted along with a challenge to choose one of each to make a project. Here are the ones I chose:

You can see other options here. Hmmm...not sure why they are showing up so gray. That's not what they look like on my computer. Weird. Anyway, I pulled out an old Papertrey Ink set called Pond Life for this card. It caught my eye as I was flipping through my sets and I thought the colors would work perfectly. Plus, I had a flash of inspiration for the circle. Voila!

I cut multiple pieces of Aqua Mist and Hawaiian Shores cardstock using the In the Meadow dies and layered the strips to look like water. Once glued together, I die cut my circle. I stamped multiple fish in the water using the same two inks. The little teeny bubbles were made with a Sakura Gelly Roll pen, which adds just a touch of shimmer while still keeping the masculine vibe.

I stamped the turtle on Kraft cardstock using Leaf Green and Ripe Avocado ink. Can you see the subtle shell pattern? Here's a close-up view:

I hand-cut the turtle and placed it according to the sketch. I added some grass stems to the bottom of my Kraft card base and then glued everything in place. Last, I stamped my sentiment from Shapes By Design. Simple and fun!